Not over yet
by Rlybro
Summary: !SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR! 'Last night I dreamt that we had a kid.' 'I had a dream about it, and it was so real.' Peter collapsed into his arms. It was then that Tony realized that he already had a kid, he had just been too blind to see it.


'Last night I dreamt that we had a kid.'

'I had a dream about it, and it was so real.'

.

.

.

'Mister Stark? I don't feel so good.'

Tony turned towards Peter's voice. Part of him knew what was going to happen and it filled him with dread and panic.

The boy collapsed into his arms. 'You're all right', Tony told him, too shocked to say anything else. He was shaking and his knees threatened to give out under him. He held on to Peter as tight as he could.

It was then that Tony realized that he already had a kid, he had just been too blind to see it. The kid may not have been born of Pepper and him, and he definitely wasn't named after one of Pepper's uncles. But he was the best kid Tony could've asked for. Peter was smart, passionate, and could annoy Tony to no end with his endless pop-culture references. He had wormed his way into Tony heart and settled there. Peter had become a constant part of his life, someone Tony couldn't live without anymore.

And now he was dying.

Tony laid Peter on the ground as gently as he could when he couldn't find the strength to keep them both upright anymore.

He knew that he should say something, anything to comfort the boy. He could see that Peter desperately wanted and needed it. But the words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter a single word.

Peter's body turned into ash underneath his hand as he watched the boy's face crumble. The wind carried Peter's ashes away from Tony's grasp.

He'd lost Peter.

Slowly, Tony pulled his knees to his chest and pressed a mindless kiss on the ashes covering his hands. He'd zoned the world out and trapped himself in his own mind. The ashes on his hand kept reminding Tony of how Peter clung to him in his last moments. His kept seeing Peter's face in front of him, full of fear and panic. The kid's cries for help kept repeating in his mind.

'I'm sorry.' Peter had said. The last words he'd ever say.

For what? Tony thought. Dying?

Peter shouldn't have apologized, it wasn't his fault. It never was. Tony was the one who should've apologized. He should've kept Peter save. No, he never should've brought him into this mess in the first place.

Because now Peter's dead and it's his fault.

In an instant, Tony was up on his feet. He let everything out. He yelled and screamed until he lost his voice. He kicked every piece of moon rock and scrap metal until his feet numbed. An endless stream of tears rolling down his cheeks.

He hated that he was too weak to protect Peter.

He hated that they hadn't been able to stop that purple grape of a psychopath.

He hated that if Star-Lord hadn't let his emotion get the best of him, they would've been able to stop Thanos. But of course, the idiot just had to punch the Titan. He couldn't have waited another second until they'd gotten the gauntlet off. He hated that he knew he would've done the same if it was Pepper who'd died.

He hated that he'd failed to save the universe.

Tony kicked the last piece of scrap metal as hard as he could. A sharp pain shot through him, causing him to fall to his knees. Tony looked down to his side. His stab wound had opened up a bit again. He slumped down in defeat.

Tony once believed he could keep everyone safe. But he had been proven wrong over and over again. And now he couldn't even save the one kid that mattered most.

Why couldn't it be me? Tony thought. Why wasn't he the one to die? Sure, Pepper would be devastated when she'd find out, but she was used to being disappointed in him.

Maybe he should stay on Titan and let himself bleed out.

Peter was the one who deserved to live, not him. Peter was young -god, he was still so young- he was a better person than Tony would ever be. He still had his whole life ahead of him, one that was supposed to be filled with friends, family, and tons of stupid science jokes.

Oh, god, how was he going to tell May her nephew died?

Tony felt a hand on his shoulder.

He spun around to face the enemy, his arms raised, the blasters whirring and ready to shoot.

'Woah, wait!'

Tony looked up and lowered his blasters. It was the blue alien who'd help them during the fight.

'You're not dead', Tony noted.

The Alien huffed. 'Well observed.'

Tony leaned back against a rock. 'As you can see, I'm having quite the crisis at the moment. So go away.' He made a shooing motion with his hand before resting his head on the rock and closing his eyes.

'No.' The alien answered.

Tony opened one eye to look at the woman. 'I'm sorry', he said sarcastically, 'I must not have been clear. I'm sure it's because of translation issues. G-O A-W-A-Y.'

'No', she repeated.

'Let a man mourn in peace, will you', Tony groaned. His blasters broke apart and the particles climbed up his face to create his mask. End of the conversation.

'You're acting like all hope's lost', she scowled. Jesus, this woman was really getting on his nerves. 'We're not done yet.'

Tony opened his mask. 'LOOK AROUND!' He shouted. 'EVERYONE'S DEAD! THE FIGHT'S OVER! WE'VE LOST!'

The woman leaned down to face him. 'The fight's not over', she gritted. 'Yes, we've lost this battle, but that doesn't mean we've lost the fight. There's still a way to fix this. It's too late for me to bring my sister back, but it's not too late for the boy. You can bring him back, him and the others that met the same fate.'

Tony's breath hitched. 'How?'

The alien straightened. 'The time stone', she answered. 'If we retrieve it from Thanos' hands we can return everything to the way it was before he wiped out half the universe.'

Tony's heart raced. If there was a way to bring Peter back, he'd do it. He'd do anything to see the kid's smile one more time. Even if it means he'll have to fight that purple nightmare one on one again. The titan has been the source of his miseries for too long, Tony will not lose the next fight.

'We'll have to get off this planet first', he said absently, his mind racing and planning the next battle.

'Easy', the woman said.

'You'll have to find a working ship in this dump', Tony frowned snapping back to the present. 'Good luck with that.'

'I can get us a ship', the alien told him. 'We just have to find Thanos.'

'Earth', Tony answered. 'He's on earth.'

'Do you know the coordinates of that planet?'

'Give me a map of the universe and I'll get you the coordinates.'

'Good', she said. 'Now clean the ash off your hands, and close that wound. You can't save anyone if you're bleeding out.'

Tony nodded. He was starting to feel a bit dizzy from blood loss and fatigue. Before he closed his wound, he used his suit to collect all the ashes left on his hand and created a little vial to store them. He held it tightly in his hand.

'Well, I guess we'll be stuck together for some time', Tony said, looking up at the blue alien cyborg. 'The name's Stark, Tony Stark. Yours?'

'Nebula,' she answered as she held out a hand to pull him up. 'And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about your son.'

Tony didn't bother to correct her.


End file.
